Fuentes, Muzzo, Musial and Valera take Wins in Montreal

Montreal, 10 June 2017 - Martin Fuentes and his Ferrari of Silicon Valley 488 Challenge confirmed his pole position pace with a win on Saturday's race at the Grand Prix du Canada weekend.  Marc Muzzo, driving for Ferrari of Ontario in Trofeo Pirelli AM, Dave Musial for Lake Forrest Sportscars in Coppa Shell and Jose Luis Valera with Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale in Trofeo Pirelli 458 EVO also took their class wins.   The race took place after most of the activity for the day had concluded ensuring even more rubber had built up on the racing line.  High temperatures, both ambient and on-track made this race a true test for drivers in their Challenge race cars.   The Start - Drivers lined up two abreast on the start finish line before setting off on a single pace lap.  After navigating the tite, final chicane in two by two formation, drivers rolled down the front straight waiting for the green flag.  When it flew, Martin Fuentes made a great start and was clear of the 488 of James Weiland before Turn One.  Further back in the field, things were not so simple.  The thirty nine car grid filled the 2.74 mile track to capacity and made for a very interesting first couple of corners.  Drivers were side by side, jostling for position throughout the first lap.   Caution Period: Having completed the first lap, drivers began to settle into the single file line demanded by the conditions and the chicane-filled track layout.  That being said, as a result of the incident in qualifying earlier in the day, there were quite a few cars out of position and looking to get a move on towards the front.  Peter Ludwig of Wide World of Cars made a decisive series of moves and quickly found himself in second place and started closing down Martin Fuentes.  His cause was aided by a full course caution caused by a two car incident going into the hairpin.   With the field packed up for a single file restart, Peter Ludwig was right behind Martin Fuentes.  Further back in the field, Marc Muzzo had consolidated his lead in Trofeo Pirelli AM, Dave Musial was leading in Coppa Shell and James Walker was leading the Trofeo Pirelli 458 EVO class.   Back to Green: Once the stranded car had been moved to a safe location, the green flag, Martin and Peter started reeling off fast lap after fast lap, but further back in the field, the yellow flag had allowed drivers to close up to their competition. By the time the checkered flag had fallen, James Walker in the Trofeo Pirelli 458 EVO class had fallen from first to fifth, with Jose Luis Valera, Naveen Rao, Brian Kaminskey and Alistair Garnett taking his place.   The Checkered Flag: Martin Fuentes held off Peter Ludwig to take the win, Marc Muzzo  maintained his advantage in Trofeo Pirelli AM, and Dave Musial took the victory in Coppa Shell.  In the Trofeo Pirelli 458 EVO class, however, James Walker had fallen from first to fifth, with Jose Luis Valera, Naveen Rao, Brian Kaminskey and Alistair Garnett taking his place.  Jose would go on to take the win in his Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale 458 EVO car.   Schedule: Race Two will take place on Sunday, June 11 at 11:05 EST.